With the start of the 76th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival in 2023, cinema enthusiasts in the Arab world are celebrating the largest Arab participation ever. This edition witnesses the participation of seven directors of Arab origin. It appears that the festival's management this year has redirected its attention to new and different regions, as evident in the words of the festival's artistic director, Thierry Frémaux, during the press conference announcing the official selection.

He said, "World cinema reinvents itself, with many films from countries that are not accustomed to coming to Cannes, such as Mongolia. There is a strong presence from North Africa, East Africa, and West Africa, and there are many women among this new generation of filmmakers."

Arab cinema has a rich history at the Cannes Film Festival since its first edition in 1946. The film "Dunia" by director Mohamed Karim participated back then, and the Egyptian director and actor Youssef Wahbi served on the jury of the same edition. Throughout the history of the festival, Arab participation has been diverse, including notable films such as "Chronicle of the Years of Embers" by Algerian director Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, which became the first Arab film to win the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 1975.

In addition to that, Egyptian director Youssef Chahine had multiple participations with ten films throughout his cinematic career, starting from "Sons of the Nile" in the early 1950s to "Alexandria-New York" in 2004. He also won the Palme d'Or in 1997 for his overall career. Furthermore, the film "Feathers" by director Kamal Zuhairi won the Grand Prize of the Critics' Week in 2021.

Four Daughters

The Tunisian film "Banat Alfa" (Alfa's Daughters) directed by Kaouther Ben Hania is the only Arab film officially competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or at the festival. This participation comes after Tunisia's absence from the official competition for over half a century since the last participation of the film "Hikayat Basita Kaheza" (A Simple Story Like This) by director Abdelatif Ben Ammar in the Long Film Competition in 1970.

"Banat Alfa" is a film that combines fiction and documentary elements and tells the true story of the Tunisian woman Alfa Elhamrouni, a mother of four daughters. Two of her daughters, Rahma and Ghofran Chekri, join an extremist organization and flee to Libya, where they end up being imprisoned. Meanwhile, the mother struggles to save her imprisoned daughters while also trying to protect her other two daughters.

The film "Banat Alfa" stars Hend Sabry and Magd Mastoura, along with the real-life protagonists Alfa Elhamrouni and her daughters Aya and Teyssir Chekri. The director also enlists the actresses Nour Khoury and Israa Qamh to portray the absent daughters. The film is written and produced by Habib Attia and Nadim Cheikhrouha, and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, who was previously nominated for an Oscar for her film "The Man Who Sold His Skin." Who knows, she might be able to win the Palme d'Or this year, as she is one of the six female directors competing in the main competition.

In turn, Tunisian star Hend Sabry celebrated the film's participation in the official competition of the Cannes Festival. It is worth mentioning that she previously participated in the festival in 1994 with the film "Samt Al-Qusur" (The Silences of the Palace) directed by Moufida Tlatli, which won the Caméra d'Or award in the "Un Certain Regard" section at that time.

Goodbye Julia

As for the "Un Certain Regard" competition, which is a category within the official awards of the Cannes Festival running parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or, it witnessed the presence of the film "Wadaa' Julia" (Goodbye Julia). In this film, director Mohammed Kordofani seeks to depict the tragedy of the separation between North and South Sudan through the story of Mona, a retired singer from the North who, in some way, causes the death of a man from the South.

This incident leads her to hire Julia, his wife, as a maid to alleviate her guilt. Mona finds herself entangled in a strange friendship with Julia, who is trying to unravel the mystery of her husband's disappearance. The film is directed by Mohammed Kordofani and stars Eman Youssef, Seraan Riak, Nizar Gomaa, and Qeer Dweini.

It is no wonder that this is the first Sudanese film to reach Cannes, as Sudanese cinema has suffered from a long period of complete absence compared to neighboring countries. Although the first film production unit in Sudan was established in the late 1940s, its production was limited to promotional films. After the 1969 revolution led by Colonel Jaafar Nimeiry, the State Film Corporation was established under the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Initially, its production was limited to documentaries and short films. The first feature narrative film did not appear until 1970 with "Amal wa Ahlam" (Hopes and Dreams), produced by Rashid Mahdi and directed by Ibrahim Malaas.

Sudanese cinema has long faced restrictions, but fortunately, it has begun to regain its vitality, as evident in a number of excellent films that have made it to international film festivals. Among the most notable are "You Will Die at Twenty" by Amjad Abu Alala and "Talking About Trees" by Suhaib Gasmelbari.

The Mother of All Lies

Morocco is also participating in the "Un Certain Regard" competition with the feature-length documentary film "Kathib Abeed" or "The Mother of All Lies" directed by Asmae El Moudir. The film follows Asmae's journey to explore her childhood. The events start with her going to her parents' house to help them pack their belongings as they move to a new home. While sorting through her childhood items, she finds a picture of a group of children in a schoolyard, which is the only picture from her childhood. However, Asmae doubts that she is the child in the photo.

This picture becomes a starting point for exploring personal family stories through the narratives of her grandmother and parents, examining the small lies and spaces of deception in each story. It also delves into exploring history, specifically the period of the Casablanca Uprising in 1981 and its effects on Moroccan society, discovering how each personal story contains a certain degree of falsehood.

The film is produced by Lucy Rigo and Pauline Tran Van Lieu. Asmae El Moudir has previously directed several documentaries, including "In My Mother's Corner" produced by Al Jazeera Documentary. The film also draws inspiration from family photos and stories, starting its journey from a postcard with a picture of the village where her mother lived during her childhood. It participated in the "First Appearance" competition at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

Hunting Dogs

From Morocco as well, director Kamal Lazraq is participating with the film "Les Meutes" or "The Packs" in the "Un Certain Regard" competition. The film revolves around a father struggling to survive with his son in the backstreets of Morocco. However, they find themselves in a dangerous situation when they unintentionally get involved in an attempt to dispose of a kidnapped man's body in their car. The events of the film unfold over the course of one night, as the characters move from one situation to another in the world of the marginalized.

The film stars Ayoub El Aid and Abdelatif Moustoury, both of whom are making their screen debut. This seems to be an extension of the director's approach in his previous film, "The Man with a Dog," where he also worked with actors appearing on camera for the first time. He focused on the poor and marginalized classes in Morocco, portraying a young man searching for his lost dog and discovering the hidden worlds of Casablanca.

Note: The title "Les Meutes" has been translated to "The Packs" as a possible interpretation, but please note that the official English title may vary.

Omar la Fraise

From Algeria comes the film "Omar la Fraise" (Omar the Strawberry) directed by Elias Belkeddar, which is screened in the "Midnight Screenings" section. The film tells the story of Omar Zerouki, a swindler in his fifties nicknamed Omar the Strawberry, who escapes from France to the streets of Algeria with his friend Roger. He is forced to stay in Algeria after being sentenced to twenty years in prison by the French courts.

Omar is forced to work in a candy factory, and in the evenings, he maintains his nightlife of crime with a group of young swindlers. He meets a woman who tries to convince him to settle down and start a family. Omar struggles with the duality of his life until one of his friends is killed, prompting him to seriously consider changing his life. It is worth mentioning that director Elias Belkeddar previously won the Critics' Week Prize at the 57th edition of the festival in 2018 for his film "The Wedding Day."

Note: The title "Omar la Fraise" has been translated to "Omar the Strawberry" as a possible interpretation, but please note that the official English title may vary.

Two Short Egyptian Films

Also participating in "Cannes" this year is the short film "The Call Of The Brook" by Egyptian director Jad Shahin in the "LA CINEF" section, which is an institution under the auspices of the Cannes Film Festival, established to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers. This is the second time an Egyptian film has participated in this competition.

The film follows the story of a young man from Upper Egypt who goes to a cursed brook and witnesses a strange event that makes him question everything, based on a popular rural legend known as "Al-Nadaha." The film stars Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Heba Khayal, and Sara Shady.

The preparation for the film took about six months, but due to the limited budget allocated for its production, the film was shot in one day over a continuous sixteen-hour period. Currently, Jad Shahin is preparing to produce his first feature-length narrative film, which will be similar to "The Call Of The Brook" in its exploration of folk legends and fears.

Eisa: I Promise You Paradise

In the Critics' Week competition, another Egyptian short film is participating, titled "Isa" (I promise you paradise), directed by Murad Mustafa. The film follows the story of Isa, a 17-year-old African immigrant living in Egypt, who experiences a violent incident and tries to save his loved ones. The film stars Keni Marcellino and Kenzy Mohamed, with a screenplay by Murad Mustafa and Sawsan Youssef, and directed by Murad Mustafa.

This is the sixth short film in the director's career, who has previously presented films such as "Khadija," "What We Don't Know About Maryam," "Henna and Roses," "Negative Five," and "Mannequin." Currently, Murad Mustafa is preparing to present his first feature-length film titled "Aisha Can't Fly," which tells the story of a Somali immigrant. He focuses on the issues of African migrants in Egypt and attempts to portray their reality through their own perspectives. The participation of these two short films may compensate for the absence of Egyptian feature films in the festival.

Two Jordanian Films Participating for the First Time

In the Critics' Week section, the Jordanian film "Inshallah, Boy" directed by Amjad Al-Rasheed is also participating. It stars Mona Hala, Mohammed Jizawi, Yumna Marwan, Sulwa Neqara, and Haitham Omari. This marks Jordan's first participation in the history of the festival. T

he film tells the story of Nawal, whose husband passes away, and she tries to save her daughter and keep her house, which she was on the verge of losing due to the absence of a male heir, despite buying it with her own money. This leads her to claim to be pregnant by her deceased husband in order to postpone the division of the inheritance. The film is the director's first feature-length film, following his presentation of six short films, including the notable film "The Parrot," which won several important awards at various festivals.

The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry

The film "The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry" is considered the first Jordanian short film to reach the festival, competing in the "Directors' Fortnight" section. It is directed by Fares Rajab, marking his directorial debut, and stars Ahmed Shahab Al-Din and Mohammed Nazar. The story revolves around a German woman named Ida who returns to a town on the Red Sea coast where her Arab lover died, in order to bid him a final farewell. The events are filmed in an imaginary city using a 16mm camera, exploring the grief that the protagonist experiences.

In Conclusion

Despite having Arab names behind the creation of these works, with the exception of the Sudanese film "Goodbye Julia," which is a co-production with other countries to seek funding, this raises questions about the ability of Arab cinema to produce its own works. Nevertheless, the presence of this group of Arab directors in the current edition remains promising for a broader space and a new era for Arab cinema.

Sources

Tunisia’s ‘Four Daughters’ is Cannes’ only competing Arab film as festival shifts east
INSHALLAH A BOY
Egypt’s short THE CALL OF THE BROOK to compete in the Cannes Film Festival’s LA CINEF official competition